Navigation
Herstory
World Record Run for Mary Keitany at RAK Half Marathon: 1:05:50
All Photos by Victor Sailer www.photorun.net: Mary Keitany breaks the women's world half-marathon record at the 2011 RAK Half-Marathon
By David Monti (c) 2011 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved. Used with permission.
Kenya's Mary Keitany, the 2009 IAAF World Half-Marathon champion, demonstrated today, February 18 that she is still indeed the world's best half-marathoner. Running in the fifth annual RAK Half-Marathon in the emirate of Ras Al Khaimah this morning, the 29-year-old athlete flew through the certified 21.097 kilometer course in a head-spinning 1:05:50, breaking Lornah Kiplagat's IAAF-ratified world record of 1:06:25 (2007 IAAF World Half-Marathon Championships in Italy).
In this mixed-gender race, Keitany (left) followed Kenyan pacemaker Simon Tanui through 5 kilometers in 15:18, 8K in 24:30 (a world best), 10K in 30:45, 15K in 46:40, and 10 miles in 50:05 (another world best). Keitany also crossed the certified 20K mark in 1:02:36 (still with Tonui), another pending IAAF world record, surpassing Lornah Kiplagat's 1:02:57 en route time in 2007. The IAAF accepts en route times for world record consideration if all of the same conditions have been met for records set at a finish line (the independent Association of Road Racing Statisticians does not accept en route times for world records, and does not recognize women's world records set in mixed-gender races).Keitany, who represents adidas and is managed by Demadonna Athletic Promotions, earned USD 75,000 for her performance today: $25,000 for the victory and $50,000 for the world record. She is likely to pick up an additional private bonus from adidas.
Last November, Mary Keitany made her marathon debut, and finished third (2:29:01) in the ING New York City Marathon.
Some three minutes behind Keitany, the Ethiopian duo of Dire Tune and Mare Dibaba also posted excellent marks of 1:08:52 and 1:08:57 in second and third place, respectively.
In the men's race, Ethiopia's Deriba Merga also ran aggressively. He hit 5K in 13:37, 8K in 21:31 (a world best), 10K in 27:31, ten miles in 44:53 and 20K in 56:16. He finished in 59:25, 20 seconds ahead of Kenya's Bernard Kipyego (59:45) and Leonard Langat (59:52).
Merga's win, worth $25,000 in prize money, should restore his confidence after a rough year in 2010. Last year, he dropped out of the RAK Half at 18K, finished third at the Boston Marathon after being an early leader as the defending champion, and dropped out of both the Bank of American Chicago and Chunchon Marathons last fall.
"I had constantly sore thighs and hips for much of the year," he told race organizers today.
The RAK Half-Marathon is an IAAF Silver Label road race. In the event's short 5-year history, three sub-59 minute and 19 sub-60 minute marks have been recorded, including a world record of 58:53 (since surpassed) by Kenya's Samuel Wanjiru in 2007. Keitany's performance today represented the first pending world record in Ras Al Khaimeh for women.
About RAK
Ras Al Khaimah is one of the seven Emirates that form the United Arab Emirates. Ras Al Khaimah is nestled between the Hajjar Mountains on the east and the Arabian Gulf on the west, and shares mountainous borders with the Sultanate of Oman.
